You're going to need to give me an example cause I seriously can't understand where you are coming from with this statement. Like dunit697, an example of what you consider a "diverse party of personalities" would help to establish where you're coming from here. I seriously just can't wrap my head around your statement, it is that foreign of a concept to me cause I personally feel VI has the most diverse party of personalities in the series. I think you're going to give me an aneurysm by having me think about you're statement, like that girl I overheard who said "If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college" :(
No, you and pretty much everyone else have this sentiment. I would have preferred Basch (but he probably would be too samey) or Lady Ashe (cause she's better than Lightning and I just knew I wasn't going to get Faris) so you are definetly not alone.
As for the possible "no VI or IX" debate, another bit of info from the hacked demo gives some hope. A pretty awkward screen that suggests a few more faces may show up. Chances are, anymore character announcements will be made before March 3rd, so we still have a month for more crazy revelations.